Q-Is rice supposed to be washed before cooking?.
A-The only kinds of rice one should wash are wild, imported or unpackaged rice purchased in bulk. Some imported rices have a cereal or corn syrup coating, and wild rice and bulk rices may contain insects or debris.
A company that specializes in growing organic brown rice claims in one of its pamphlets that some white rice is covered with talc or confectioners`
sugar to give the rice a sheen.
A spokesperson for Uncle Ben`s Rice informs us that the company does not use talc or confectioners` sugar in any form in the processing of its rice products. Also, if you wash Uncle Ben`s Rice before cooking or drain the water off after cooking, you will remove the nutrients that have been added to to it. Apparently these additives are in powdered form, and this is why the rice is labeled ”enriched.”
Brown rice should not be washed.
Q-I would like to know if the comfrey tea I am drinking is harmful. I grow my own comfrey plant and dry the leaves to make my own tea. I drink an average of three to four cups of the tea a day.
A-Varro Tyler, a noted pharmacologist with Purdue University says,
”Although comfrey is presently one of the most common herbs sold to the American public, there is reason to believe that using it internally is definitely hazardous to the health. Both root and leaf of this plant have been shown to be carcinogenic in rats when fed in concentrations of as little as 0.5 percent and 8 percent of their diet.”
Apparently there are toxic alkaloids in varying degrees in comfrey which can damage the liver. Some plants are free of the toxic alkaloids, but unless you have your plant chemically analyzed you should stop drinking this tea. Tyler also cautions that most packages of the drug sold in health food stores contain plant material of undetermined origin and should be avoided.
Q -I`ve heard that several brands of canned tuna were mixed with shark meat, although nothing is on the labels to this effect. Could you check this out?
A-Because you don`t see shark meat as an ingredient on tuna can labels, you can rest assured there is no shark meat mixed in with the tuna. Tuna is plentiful, and there would be no reason for a canner to mix in shark unless he harbored a perverse wish to bring his company to financial ruin. Although shark is not an inferior product, many Americans are turned off about eating it for psychological reasons.
If you live on the East Coast, however, you have probably eaten shark without knowing it if you`re fond of swordfish. Mako sharks are similar in flavor and texture and are readily available.
A.J. McClane tells us in ”The Encyclopedia of Fish Cookery”(H. Holt & Co., $50) that shark is the most common source of the fish in Great Britain`s fish `n` chips, and along the coast of Maine the dogfish, a type of shark, is called a harbor halibut. Also, processed shark meat is sold in Mexican markets as bacalao, or salt codfish. Shark can also be cut up, stir-fried in peanut oil and passed off as scallops.
Do you have a question on shopping or food storage? Write Curious Shopper, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611.
